Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Following a loud explosion, Lei Gu exploded into a cloud of blood.

Fan Wu and the others were shocked and impressed by his resolve. Even if they knew they were bound to die, not many in this world would choose to self-destruct. If they had been in his shoes, they would surely choose to die fighting. Even if the final outcome was predetermined, who would know what the results might be if they didn't at least try to resist?

[Is the Demon Race so fanatical?] The three Divine Spirits shuddered at the thought. While they were caught up in their thoughts, Yang Kai suddenly flew down weakly and began searching among Lei Gu's remains.

Luan Feng frowned and landed lightly next to him, asking in a somewhat annoyed tone, "What are you looking for? Why aren't you healing your wounds?"

Yang Kai coughed lightly and explained, "As long as their Demon Heart remains, a Demon will not die!"

Back in the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld, Yang Kai had dealt with the Demon Race for years and understood just how tenacious the Demon Race's vitality was. Even if the body had been destroyed, they could revive again as long as their Demon Heart was not destroyed; therefore, one must completely destroy all Demon Hearts to really kill those from the Demon Race.

Although Lei Gu had resolutely chosen to self-destruct, Yang Kai still had to guard against him feigning death to escape. Fortunately, he did not find anything similar to a Demon Heart after searching around for a while. It would seem that being possessed by a Demon Spirit was a little different from being born as a member of the Demon Race.

Nevertheless, he made Liu Yan burn down the entire area just to be safe. Only then did he let out a breath of relief. Even if Lei Gu planned to escape just now, there was no way he could revive again after being incinerated by Liu Yan's Phoenix Fire.

Then, the Embodiment and Wen Zi Shan came over from the sidelines. They had remained in hiding a little further away so that they could guard against Lei Gu's escape. Who could have known that they would have no chance to participate?

Nonetheless, it was only thanks to the connection between the Embodiment and Yang Kai that they managed to pull off this trap safely and catch Lei Gu off guard. If that were not the case, Yang Kai would not have agreed to follow Lei Gu alone so readily. The Embodiment had been his greatest trump card.

When the few people gathered, they didn't say much. Yang Kai was severely injured and required immediate treatment; however, he made a single statement to Wen Zi Shan before disappearing, "She's fine…"

Yang Kai immediately handed the Sealed World Bead to Liu Yan for safekeeping before entering the Small Sealed World to heal his injuries. The existence of the Sealed World Bead was his biggest secret and trump card, but there was not as much of a need to deliberately keep it secret anymore as he had grown stronger. Besides, Fan Wu and the others would not publicize this matter, so it wasn't a big deal if the secret of the Sealed World Bead was exposed to them. Likewise, Wen Zi Shan was someone he could trust.

Wen Zi Shan wanted to ask Yang Kai more about Gao Xue Ting, but he couldn't find the opportunity to do so. Before he could ask anything, Yang Kai had already disappeared into the strange bead. Such an item must be one of Yang Kai's cards and Wen Zi Shan was tactful enough to not pry further. Nonetheless, he knew that answers would have to wait.

Unfortunately, he could not simply just stand around waiting. He was still a Sect Master and had duties to perform, especially during such a crisis. What's more, he was not the only one eager to go back.

The thirty-two Monster Kings were still back at Orthodoxy Temple, and who knows what sort of trouble they would have caused by now? One should not be fooled by their appearances. Although they acted docile in front of Yang Kai, each one of them was truly an unruly individual; therefore, nobody wanted to stay here for too long.

It was then that the Embodiment spoke up. He told Wen Zi Shan to head back first while the rest would stay and check the area to make certain that Lei Gu was truly dead.

Inside the Sealed World Bead, Yang Kai appeared in the medicine garden and sat cross-legged before the Immortal Tree while Mu Zhu and Mu Lu used their Secret Technique to guide its essence to treat his injuries.

He had used the Immortal Tree to treat his injuries many times before, but he mostly consumed the leaves directly. There were not many leaves on the Immortal Tree in the first place, so it was almost bald after it was plucked over the years by him. He didn't dare to touch the rest of its leaves for fear that he might damage the foundation of the Immortal Tree. Fortunately, the Wood Spirit Clan's mysterious methods could pull the vitality from the Immortal Tree and pour it into his body without harming the Immortal Tree.

Supplemented by his strong physique and powerful restoration ability, Yang Kai was almost fully recovered within three days and felt delighted by the speed of recovery. Without the assistance of the two Wood Spirits, it would have taken him at least a month to recover from the injuries he sustained this time.

In his joy, he generously praised Mu Zhu and Mu Lu for their magical methods. He complimented them so much that the two Wood Spirits were blushing furiously and feeling extremely shy.

After he recovered, he finally had the time to deal with Gao Xue Ting. Gao Xue Ting had been infected by Demon Qi and both her body and mind had been demonified. Afterwards, she was controlled by Lei Gu and nearly self-destructed. It was only thanks to Yang Kai pulling her into the Small Sealed World and suppressing her in time that she managed to survive.

With a flicker, Yang Kai came to the area where a number of houses remained. Gao Xue Ting was currently being suppressed in one of these huts. Pushing open the door and entering, Yang Kai was slightly taken aback because she suddenly turned to look at him with a pair of pitch-black eyes when she noticed somebody approaching her. Then, she made a strange sound from her throat and looked at him with a hideous expression as if she wanted to eat his flesh and drink his blood.

That change in her behaviour made him frown. Based on his previous observations, the Demons in Orthodoxy Temple were divided into two types. One was like Lei Gu and Feng Ming who were possessed by Demon Spirits. These Demons were complete Demons and possessed sentience. They were also fully dedicated to the Demon Race.

The other type was those like Gao Xue Ting and the others from the Southern Territory that had been infected by Demon Qi and underwent Demon Transformation. They did not have the ability to act and think independently and needed to be controlled by the former type of Demon.

Now, however, Gao Xue Ting was clearly showing some signs of independent thought. However, that was not her own consciousness. Judging from that hideous expression, it was a reaction formed after she was demonified.

Yang Kai walked over to her and looked at her with a complicated expression. He called out to her a few times in a soft voice, but she did not react at all. She only continued to growl and struggle against her restraints. If not for the fact that her cultivation had been suppressed, she might have already lunged at him.

It made Yang Kai wonder whether the rest of the Demons with no consciousness would also become like this, acting based on their instincts, if enough time had passed after they were demonified. If that was the case, then the situation at Orthodoxy Temple might be a little tricky.

No longer hesitating, Yang Kai's aura changed abruptly. It became ancient and desolate, almost as if he had walked out of a scroll depicting the primordial world. He formed a seal with his hands and began chanting at the same time. Following that, a ray of light penetrated Gao Xue Ting's body. It was the Bloodlust Spell, one of the most commonly used Shamanic Spells and a method proven to be very effective at resisting Demon Qi corruption.

Red light shone brightly in an instant as the Blood Essence in Gao Xue Ting's body was stimulated. She looked like she was covered in a layer of red light, and a tinge of pain flashed across her face. Concurrently, the boundless black Qi oozing out from the surface of her body intertwined with the red light as both tried to destroy each other.

Then, Yang Kai began chanting the Demon Exorcism Spell. A cold light descended from the sky, cleansing both Gao Xue Ting's body and her mind. A hissing sound rang out as wisps of black smoke escaped from her body as if it had met its natural enemy, soon dissipating into nothing.

Yang Kai stood in front of Gao Xue Ting with a solemn expression, impatiently casting the Demon Exorcism Spell. As time passed, the Demon Qi flowing out of her body became less and less dense and the black and red light that had been flickering unsteadily began to show signs that the red light was taking dominance.

Finally, the blackness in her eyes faded away and she blinked blankly as her vision focused. Soon after, Gao Xue Ting saw Yang Kai standing in front of her with a smile, a peculiar ancient aura lingering around his figure.

"Junior Brother…" Gao Xue Ting called out softly, seemingly extremely weak.

"Senior Sister Gao, you're awake!" Yang Kai secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After such a long delay, he had been worried that she could no longer be saved. Fortunately, the Ancient Shamanic Spells seemed to still be quite effective against Demon Qi so his efforts had not been in vain.

"Why are you…" Gao Xue Ting was still feeling very confused about her situation. She only knew that her entire body was very weak at the moment. Moreover, traces of an unsettling power remained in her meridians and her body.

"Senior Sister, do you remember what happened?" he asked while looking at her.

"What happened…" She frowned, her thoughts a confused mess.

"At Orthodoxy Temple during the Southern Territory Martial Gathering!" He reminded her.

Gao Xue Ting was jerked awake when she heard those words and her pupils contracted as she anxiously said, "There's a conspiracy going on at Orthodoxy Temple! Junior Brother, hurry up and warn the Temple Master!"

Yang Kai hurriedly comforted her, "Senior Sister Gao, calm down. The conspiracy at Orthodoxy Temple has been thwarted. Lei Gu and Feng Ming have also been brought to justice."

"Lei Gu and Feng Ming are dead?" Her expression changed before quickly asking, "What were they planning?"

Yang Kai countered her question with another question, "How much do you remember, Senior Sister?"

She shook her head slowly, "I'm not sure. That night, Junior Brother Luo and I received an invitation from Elder Feng… Feng Ming to visit his residence to discuss our cultivation experiences. More than twenty others were there with us, but after drinking something, we all fell asleep and couldn't wake up."

Yang Kai nodded lightly. Whatever it was that demonified Gao Xue Ting and the others should have been in that drink. He had previously wondered how a group of Emperor Realm Masters could fall to the Demon Transformation so easily. As long as one of them noticed a hint of something strange, they only needed to push their Emperor Qi to defend themselves. That should have allowed them to fight back to some extent. In the worst case, they could still have raised a fuss and alerted others.

It now appeared that Feng Ming had used a method similar to poisoning to inject Gao Xue Ting and the others with Demon Qi from the inside. There was no way they could have defended against that and probably never would have imagined that Feng Ming would do something like this. After all, they had all known each other for many years, making it easy for Feng Ming to deceive them and get them to lower their defenceless.

"Where is Junior Brother Luo?" she asked.

"I don't know," Yang Kai shook his head. He had not seen Luo Chen since that night at the mountain peak ambush and only knew he too had been demonified.

"And where is this place?"

Yang Kai smiled, "It's a Sealed World. Senior Sister Gao, please rest peacefully. We will arrive back at Orthodoxy Temple soon." After saying that, he took out a bottle of Emperor Grade recovery pills and placed it next to her. She had been corrupted by Demon Qi, which damaged her foundation, and she nearly self-destructed under Lei Gu's command. Although Yang Kai had forcibly suppressed this self-destruct, Gao Xue Ting would still have suffered some damage.

She did not act reserved around him, picked up the jade bottle, took out a Spirit Pill, and stuffed it into her mouth. While refining the medicinal efficacies of the pill, she asked, "What exactly happened?"

"It's a long story," Yang Kai sighed. Sitting cross-legged opposite her, he briefly recounted everything that happened over the last few days. Her expression changed constantly as she listened as she never imagined that the Southern Territory Martial Gathering would be involved in such a terrifying conspiracy.

Yang Kai's tone was calm and collected, but nevertheless, Gao Xue Ting realized that if he had not come along on this trip and mysteriously rallied a large number of reinforcements from the Northern and Eastern Territories, the Southern Territory would have been finished. If Orthodoxy Temple's conspiracy had succeeded, there would have been hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters and tens of thousands of elite who experienced demonification who would then scatter throughout the Southern Territory. In time, the entire Southern Territory would have been turned into a Demon Paradise.

Silavin: Haa… I forcefully inserted Wen Zi Shan here. The author completely forgot that he was supposed to be here…

He appeared in the next chapter as though he knew nothing and wasn't here.

Original parts changed:

Then, Embodiment sneaked over from the side. He had remained in hiding a little further away so that he could guard against Lei Gu's escape. Who could have known that he would have no chance to shine? Still, it was only thanks to the connection between him and Yang Kai that they managed to pull off this trap safely and catch Lei Gu off guard. If that were not the case, Yang Kai would not have agreed to follow Lei Gu alone so readily. Embodiment had been his greatest trump card.

When the few people gathered together, they didn't say much. Yang Kai was severely injured and required immediate treatment. They also still had to clean up the mess back at Orthodoxy Temple. The 32 Monster Kings were still at that place. Who knows what sort of trouble they caused by now? One should not be fooled by their appearances. Although they acted docile in front of Yang Kai, each one of them was truly an unruly individual. Therefore, nobody wanted to stay here for long and immediately returned in the direction they came.

Meanwhile, Yang Kai handed the Sealed World Bead to Liu Yan for safekeeping before hiding in the Small Sealed World to heal his injuries. The existence of the Sealed World Bead was his biggest secret and trump card, but it was no longer a need to deliberately keep it secret anymore as he grew stronger and stronger over time. Besides, Fan Wu and the others would not publicize this matter, so it wasn't a big deal if the secret of the Sealed World Bead was exposed to them.

There was no need to explain as Liu Yan and the others travelled back to Orthodoxy Temple. On the other hand, Yang Kai came to the medicine garden and sat cross-legged under the Immortal Tree while Mu Zhu and Mu Lu used their Secret Technique to guide the essence of the Immortal Tree to treat his injuries.